Science Does Not Want Your Fat, Dead Body

As we are reminded regularly, much of America is overweight or even obese, and this is bad, bad, bad. Not only is it unhealthy for our bodies; it means our pants are uncomfortably tight. But beyond that, a certain pride in human life is being able to give your physical specimen away to science when you shuffle off this mortal coil, whether that's so you can help others, feel better about the life you have led, or maybe, have something positive-sounding about yourself to offer up at the gates of Heaven. But now, it seems, science doesn't even want your corpse. Science is turning up its nose at your corpse. Because your corpse is, well, fat. Science is rude.

-Fat bodies are harder to store.
-There is too much tissue on a fat form, which means "the students don't get as good a learning opportunity."
-The embalming process adds more weight.
-"Bodies taller than about 6-foot-4 or heavier than about 300 pounds simply don't fit on the trays."
-Overweight (and extremely tall) bodies are harder for "slim" technicians to lift and move.
-Overweight bodies are not "perfect":

"In a perfect world, they'd like to have a perfect body with perfect anatomy -- or near perfect," said Wade, whose ["perfect"] program is among the largest in the nation, with a peak donation of some 1,800 bodies a year.

While half of adults would consider donating their bodies to science, according to a Johns Hopkins study, weight limits for donations are generally between 170 and 300 pounds, tops. Which means, if you are heavier and hope to donate, you may want to prepare your loved ones, and/or yourself, for some rejection.

While some seem to think that this might entice people to lose weight, we feel it may simply entice people not to donate their bodies to that ingrate, science.